Foolish: The Story of Johanna Mason
by Ibbonray
Summary: There were reasons behind her biting comments, reasons behind her harsh attitude. She was once a kind-hearted little girl, but everyone that meant something to her was stolen away. Her brother, her mother, the girl she loved. This is the story of the girl who won the 71st Hunger Games by fooling everyone. This is the story of Johanna Mason. Written all in poetry.
1. The Start

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. Rights go to Suzanne Collins.**

A/N: I am attempting to do Johanna Mason's POV in poetry. She's always been a pretty inspiring character, and I want to do her justice... but I never could manage to get further than her reaping when writing it like a normal fanfic. So I decided that maybe I could get further in poetry, and here I am, publishing the first three chapters. Read, and tell me what you think... should I continue? If so, I'll be updating twice a week.

I'm a bit frustrated with the layout, because I can't put a space between stanzas. So, just so you know, each stanza is four lines and ends with a period. Plus, lines one & three and two & four rhyme! (Which is why I'm now obsessed with rhymezone .com) Anyway, please enjoy. :)

-Ibbonray

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**Chapter One**

For fifteen minutes, every night

Before he tucked her into bed

Twelve year old Jarod would recite

A tale created in his head.

The stories would begin with "once upon a time"

And would induce Johanna's laughter

Finally, when into bed she'd climb

He'd end with "happily ever after."

Johanna Mason, who was but three

Knew nothing of her brother's woes

So on that night, nightmares let her be

Of Jarod's insomnia, she never knows.

The next day shined bright and clear

The sort of weather to enjoy

But no one noticed, minds clouded with fear

For today was the reaping of a girl and boy.

The Treaty of Treason was usually dull

Then the escort appeared, Miss Lila Sage

She picked a name from the boy's bowl

And said, "Jarod Mason, come to the stage."

The crowd let out a gasp of despair

His mother cried out and was dragged away

His sister fixed him with a stare

And whispered, "I don't want you to play."

But play, her older brother did

Too soon, a sword sliced off his head

And from her mind, Johanna couldn't rid

The picture of Jarod Mason, dead.

From that moment on, things went downhill

Jarod's death her mother couldn't bear

There was a tree by the paper mill

And she found her mother hanging there.

The bills were due and her father was distraught

But despite this he stayed strong

And knew the lesser the things he bought

Their lives he would prolong.

Now Johanna had two other brothers

Both of them older than she

Each took after their late mother

With curly hair and an aura of glee.

Once the first brother came of age

He became a lumberjack

And then he made a decent wage

With the axe-wielding skills he didn't lack.

But Jyson didn't last for long

For one day a tree fell to the floor

And that is where it all went wrong

Jyson couldn't work anymore.

With her eldest brother and mother dead

And Jyson Mason crippled for life

Johanna always woke with dread

Wondering what would add to the strife.

The next event came on to quick

For her father met the lovely Rae

A woman that made Johanna sick

But never once refused to stay.

The two were wed in the month of May

And as they leaned in for a kiss

Johanna Mason looked away

It was an event she preferred to miss.

Not long after, Silvia was born

A perfect child, if there ever was one

Wearing the clothes that Johanna had worn

With beauty that could stun.

But Johanna wanted nothing to do with her

The stepsister that was Rae's child

Because over the years she had come to prefer

Those who were born bitter and wild.

Older and older Johanna grew

At the paper mill, she came to work

For the lumberjacks didn't admit women, she knew

And if she stayed in the house, her family she'd irk.

Once she came home from hours of toil

From the wall she'd remove her trusty axe

And outside her muscles would uncoil

As she became a lumberjack.

This practice was not old

But hacking down trees still made her grin

The wood she made was sold

And she raked more money in.

But it all seemed to go to waste

Because Rae spent it all on pointless things

Hand bags that she often misplaced

And necklaces with matching rings.

Johanna was fed up with living

Her days all pointless and repetitive

Her demeanor constantly unforgiving

Her attitude always aggressive.

And then, one day in the square

An hour before her shift would begin

Johanna didn't know what she was doing there

But it was fate that she ran into Aixlin.

Aixlin Alesandra Shadow

Nicknamed the Devil's spawn

The girl that was countless people's foe

To her fierce beauty, Johanna was drawn.

Aixlin ran a hand through her dark, spiky hair

While Johanna attempted not to fidget

The elder's cat-like yellow eyes fixed into a glare

And she said, "Fuck you, midget."

Next came Johanna's retaliation

And both girls stared at each other in shock

Soon their insulting banter formed a foundation

That forced them to actually talk.

And Johanna came to realise Aixlin understood

All the hardships in life that she'd faced

And eventually they figured out that they could

Seek refuge in each other when debased.

It never quite was friendship

But eventually it grew to more

And from Johanna's grasp, reality would slip

To show a vicious love she would soon explore.

She was mercilessly teased by her peers

For romantically preferring women over men

But she knew that in all her years

She'd never been as happy as she was then.

But happiness ended all too soon

In that bowl there were thousands of names

And despite this, on the last day of June

Aixlin was reaped for the Hunger Games.

And happiness would thrive no more

For in the end Annie Cresta was crowned

Because her home was District Four

And Aixlin eventually drowned.

She knew Annie was not one to blame

As her victory was all but unearned

But still, Johanna hated her all the same

Because Aixlin never returned.


	2. The Reaping

**Chapter Two**

Johanna ran along the road

Knowing where it would end

Nothing strengthening her as she strode

To the resting place of her friend.

It was a tiny place not visited much

Secluded from the corrupt

A place where no outsider could touch

The silence nothing could interrupt.

There were many, many graves

Some old and some new

She wondered who did engrave

The names of the tributes whose lives were through.

And on that day Johanna sank

To her knees by a particular stone

Her eyes saddened and her hair lank

As she silently mourned, all alone.

It was on that day, a year ago

That her lover was reaped for the Games

And the writing on the gravestone, she did know;

"Aixlin Shadow," it proclaims.

Johanna couldn't stay too long

She gave the gravestone one last scan

Then said, while contorting her face to look strong

"If I'm reaped I have a plan."

Then she turned and ran back home

To dress and then let down her hair

She ran through the tresses a fine-toothed comb

And then made her way to the square.

Johanna did not wait for her kin

For none of them were of reaping age

And they might have asked her where she'd been

To which the truth would induce rage.

She was identified through her blood

Then instructed to enter the midst of the crowd

The Treaty not heard above the thud

Of her heart that was beating much too loud.

Next, a new escort, named Pompous Brent

Was one who seemed to caper

To the side of the girl's bowl he went

And drew out a slip of paper.

Johanna wished for him to hasten

When the paper finally opened, time lapsed

Finally, Mr. Brent called "Johanna Mason"

And the fifteen-year-old girl simply collapsed.

It was easy to let it all go

The grief she'd held back for years

They poured from her in a steady flow

The shameful drops that were her tears.

She refused to stand and mount the stage

No one knew how to react

A breakdown like this hadn't occurred for an age

And much attention did it attract.

Eventually the Peacekeepers intervened

Carrying a thrashing Johanna to the front of the crowd

And once they set her on stage, she careened

So that she fell off the platform, wailing very loud.

Placed back on stage, she did not plummet again

But opted to bury her face in her hands

Rubbing at her eyes to make the redness remain

Unmoving until she heard her escort's demands.

In the Justice Building, they asked her why

"No sponsors! No support! Surely you'll die!"

But Johanna Mason remained constantly sly

And refused to explain why she'd continue to cry.

Onto the train she would aboard

Her partner and escort sharing looks of sympathy

That Johanna Mason deftly ignored

For she hated empathy.

The grandeur of the train was vast

But she could not take it all in

For into her room she ran fast

And finally her grimace turned to a grin.

Assigned as her mentor was Blight

And despite his evident wit

Once he saw Johanna's false fright

He knew she wouldn't make it.

When she was called to dinner

She rubbed her eyes and mussed her hair

Sucked in her stomach to look much thinner

Tried to appear in disrepair.

Ignoring hunger, she ate very little

And during reaping recaps, cried some more

Men in the room hadn't seen one so brittle

They anticipated futuristic gore.

But once locked in her room

She went through private conditioning

The real Johanna she would reassume

Eating all the food the Avoxes would bring.

Yes, once Johanna was alone

She collected herself and stood tall

Her triumph was clearly shown

Because Johanna Mason fooled them all.


	3. The Ceremonies

**Chapter Three**

They arrived in early morning

Her escort dragged her out of bed

Johanna listened to Blight's warning

But didn't do what he had said.

For when she stepped off the train

Hearing the Capitol's loud cheers

It didn't take much for her to feign

Bursting into tears.

She was rushed away, scolded by Blight

Into the Remake Center

A building whose colour scheme consisted of white

She stepped in without her mentor.

Surrounded by a team of women

She soon underwent the normal routine

Washed with soaps the scent of lemon

And soon was pronounced "clean."

Her stylist entered, a woman too

And looked over Johanna's slight frame

Commented on her skin's pale hue

And said, "What a shame."

Johanna became a willow tree

The branches drooping low

There's nothing else she would rather be

Because she knew how this would go.

She was herded onto the carriage

With her partner, who looked ashamed

And from other districts they were disparaged

"I'm scared!" Johanna proclaimed.

That generated chuckles

Mostly from One, Two, and Four

And her partner cracked his knuckles

For he hadn't been taunted before.

Soon, the Ceremonies began

The first carriage proceeded with a lurch

Johanna had an original plan

Any doubts about her weakness she would smirch.

Once Six had moved ahead

Into the massive, screaming crowd

False tears Johanna began to shed

And onto the street their carriage plowed.

She began to rock back and forth

Until all the carriages had emerged

And then she tilted to the right, henceforth

Out of the carriage she surged.

Johanna tumbled to the ground

And the crowd screamed in shock

The horses then maneuvered around

The girl who continued to rock.

She curled into a ball, refusing to stand

Until someone came and carried her away

It was her mentor, Blight, and

He stared at her in his pitiful way.

He carried Johanna to her room

Tucked her under the covers of a bed

Then shook his head in apparent gloom

And from that chamber he fled.

With that, she smiled pleasantly

For she achieved her goal

And then, presently

She was misjudged by every soul.


	4. The Training

A/N: I've been having a terrible day, so I'm glad it's time to post another chapter. :) Hope you like it.

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**Chapter Four**

Training was the next day

Which Johanna dreaded greatly

For everything she would display

She'd have to fail at stately.

She pretended to weep in despair

When the lift opened to the large room

As if everything was scary there

And each station held a certain doom.

In reality, she itched to hold an axe

But that would have to wait

"Seven" was attached to her back

And the rules Atala had to state.

Soon enough they were dismissed

Johanna ran to the plants zone

And every identification she missed

No matter how many times she was shown.

Next she went to the axes she loved

Chose the lightest one she could find

But before she pulled back, she was shoved

By someone from behind.

Johanna turned around and saw

A boy laughing at her, strong and tall

She buried down the anger that was her flaw

And ran crying to the nearest wall.

Curled up in a corner, eyes puffy and red

Johanna Mason shook with laughter

Imagining the tall boy dead

For he was the first one she'd go after.

Lunchtime came 'round after a while

And Johanna wanted to sit alone

But the girl from eight found her with a smile

She said her name was Sara Sewn.

"May I sit here?" Sara asked

And Johanna couldn't just say no

She had to make her reputation last

And couldn't let her irritation show.

So Johanna Mason had to lie

And tell Sara that it was fine

But all the while she acted shy

As both of them continued to dine.

Sara sat with her the entire time

Even when tears fell from Johanna's eyes

And on the second day, in the trees they climbed

Sara asked, "Want to be allies?"

"Why?" Johanna replied

"Everybody knows I'm weak"

But this comment, Sara denied

Saying some strong people acted meek.

Her words hit Johanna hard

Was she not acting frail enough?

Johanna said, "The strong are scarred

To say I'm scarred is just a bluff."

That was clearly untrue

But she had to stick to her current theme

Because, what if Sara knew?

Then she'd ruin Johanna's scheme.

Johanna pretended every day

Until the night, when she could be herself

Eventually she couldn't wait

For the Games in which she'd show her true self.

Private sessions soon approached

She weeped until lunchtime came

Forgetting everything Blight had coached

When the tinny voice called her name.

She entered the room with her head hung low

The Head Gamemaker said, "You may proceed"

So Johanna Mason put on a show

Collapsing to the floor, she began to plead.

"I-I d-don't want t-to g-go!" She wailed

"I d-don't w-want t-to p-play the G-game!"

At the end, the Gamemakers agreed she failed

And Johanna exited with a hunched frame.

But inside, she crowed with glee

For she had played her part well

Not even the Gamemakers could see

Past the facade she'd been able to sell.

That night, the television screen blared

Johanna's partner got a six

But she never really cared

Up his sleeve, he had no tricks.

And then Johanna's face appeared

As for a smile, there was none

In the picture, her tears were smeared

And next to it flashed the number one.

One! One! A disgraceful one!

Johanna emitted frustrated tears

Because as for points, she deserved to get none

Zero would be less than all her peers'.

But the boy from twelve was finally shown

A one he got as well

Johanna ran to her room, emitting a groan

And onto the bed she fell.

Blight tried to comfort her

To very little avail

Since he didn't know that she would prefer

To be alone; not acting frail.

That night, she fell asleep

Plotting about her genius scheme

For she had a reputation to keep

"Johanna is pathetic," Panem soon would deem.


	5. The Interviews

**A/N: **Hey! I know I haven't been on in a while... you see, I was banned to go on fanfiction for a couple weeks. My parents said I had an addiction. :)

Enjoy

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**Chapter Five**

Pompous Brent just shook his head

To teach her etiquette would be a failed deed

Because soon enough, she would be dead

And etiquette she wouldn't need.

But Johanna Mason smirked inside

For she would win the Games one day

And Pompous' teachings could be put to the side

Since she didn't need them, anyway.

Johanna was left on her own

And she used this time to her advantage

The importance was in words and tone

Etiquette, she could manage.

Later on, she visited Blight

He said to act awed with the Capitol

And with her wide-set eyes and frame so slight

It might have been a fitting role.

But no, Johanna knew what she'd say

Although nothing that would please

She wasn't going to do it Blight's way

Which she could have pulled off with ease.

She was taken to the Remake Center, later

Where her nails were done and her hair was brushed

And soon her gown's creator

Entered with the dress, and her prep team hushed.

The garment was unveiled

A pretty thing, of the purest white

Relieved, Johanna exhaled

For it fit her angle right.

She stepped into the silky thing

Her stylist applied cosmetics

Tied Johanna's hair back with a string

And said, "I'm trained in aesthetics."

Johanna smiled at her sweetly

Playing up the innocent act

The stylist was shocked completely

As if she'd just been smacked.

Then Johanna was ushered into a car

Taken to the building where interviews were made

Through a back door, slightly ajar

And for a while, backstage she stayed.

She stood by her male counterpart

He was dressed in black silk

She'd hated him and his pitying expressions from the start

She'd never liked people of his ilk

Soon, they were paraded on stage

Caesar Flickerman's hair was silver that year

I made him look older in age

But that's not how he was trying to appear.

Johanna forced the tears from her eyes

But her makeup didn't smear like she wanted

It was waterproof; her stylist was wise

Alas, Johanna stayed undaunted.

She didn't listen to her fellow tributes

Instead, she focused on wiping her tears away

Which, she knew, always contributes

To the cosmetics' complete disarray.

Finally, Caesar called her name

But Johanna Mason pretended not to hear

And again, the two words came

So Johanna cowered in fear.

They were getting impatient

They chanted her name, they wouldn't cease

So Johanna screamed, her words blatant

Asking the noise to decrease.

It did, but still she screamed

"I don't want to go on stage!"

The words were exactly as schemed

As she pronounced "I am afraid."

The Peacekeepers carried her there

To the seat next to Caesar Flickerman

And a joke with her he tried to share

But this tantrum was not part of _his_ plan.

Johanna Mason could not reply

She was wailing too loudly for words to be said

But, inside, she was glad they could buy

Her (truthfully) false, hysterical dread.

Caesar didn't know how to react

So he let Johanna bawl away

And she was pleased, because, in fact

She'd accomplished what she'd planned all day.

The buzzer sounded, to Caesar's relief

And Johanna was escorted to her seat

Her smile to herself was brief

As she prided herself in her three-minute feat.

All the other interviews Johanna ignored

Except for Sara's, whose was good enough

Sara and Caesar talked of how Sara had scored

And if, this year, the competition was tough.

Once the boy from Twelve had whimpered a bit

Caesar remarked on the tributes that year

And finally, the cameras quit

Off the stage, Johanna was steered.

Blight, in short, was very pissed

And locked her in her room

Johanna knew she would not be missed

If her mentor heard her cannon boom.

For the last time, Johanna ate

As much as she could

Because it paid to gain some extra weight

Before in the arena she stood.

After exercising for an hour or two

She crawled, sweaty, into bed

She'd lose plenty of sleep in the Games, she knew

And it was good to be well rested and fed.

Johanna had no nightmares that night

For out of all the tributes, she was most deadly

She wouldn't go down without a fight

Johanna Mason was ready.

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A/N: Next chapter is the beginning of the Games... which I'm excited to write. :)

How do you like the story so far? I'm not going to beg you for a review, but if you want to, that would be fantastic! I always appreciate critiquing.

Thanks for sticking with me so far... the poems cover a lot of event per chapter, I know. And some of the wording is a bit confusing, because I have to make the stanzas rhyme. Despite that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

-Ibbonray


	6. The Bloodbath

**Chapter Six**

She rose too soon, at dawn

Her stylist yelled at her through the door

She put a simple robe on

And padded across the floor.

In her bathroom she rubbed her eyes

Then splashed water across her face

She just couldn't stop the lies

Wished she had no fake tears, and at least some grace.

But she buried that down

Followed her stylist to the roof

Looked for the hovercraft, with a frown

Tried desperately to not look aloof.

And then the hovercraft was there

She stepped onto the ladder, she froze in place

A woman inserted her tracker without care

And she screamed in that woman's face.

"It hurts!" Johanna whimpered.

"I don't want to get hurt anymore!"

But the woman simply simpered

Nobody had ever cried at the tracker before.

Into the hovercraft she was pulled

She sat in a sheet, shaking

To the side her head lulled

She pretended to sleep, then pretended to be waking.

The windows had gone black

The arena they advanced toward

Outside, Johanna's face went slack

Inside, her anticipation soared.

Very soon it stopped

She was lead to the Launch Room

Which, inside, she dropped

Out of nerves, her stylist would assume.

She tried so hard to look the part

Bawled about nothing in particular

While she couldn't wait for the game to start

For when the tears she shed would become prisoner.

The stylist brushed Johanna's hair

And let it tumble down her back

Which would be bothersome when she got there

Smarts, her stylist did lack.

Johanna sipped from a cup

And then a voice pronounced a time

She stepped into the tube, which went up

To the arena, which wasn't sublime.

An island it was, this year

But without any tropical trees

It was one to induce more fear

At nighttime, one would freeze.

It consisted of sheer cliffs

Made of pure, obsidian rock

Instead of a Cornucopia, two skiffs

Were tied to a wooden dock.

On the skiffs were supplies

No weapons, just food and packs

To many, this was a surprise

For shouldn't there be a single axe?

In the arena, it was night

And Johanna quietly snickered

As their faces were illuminated by moonlight

Which, when passed over by clouds, flickered.

And why did she snicker, you ask?

They didn't see the arms

Hidden in the rock's cracks

Ready to inflict harm.

In the remaining seconds left

She calculated her path

_I'll go through that cleft,_

She thought, _to escape the Careers' wrath._

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six"

She let the tears slip down her face

Pretended the moon left her transfixed

As she prepared for her race.

"Five, four, three, two, one"

She hoped they all thought her futile

And would gasp aloud when she won

Having never seen a girl so brutal.

And then the gong rang in her ears

They dashed to the ships, she dashed away

The world was hazy through her tears

As she sought a small cache.

In it was an axe

Small, so she would look weak

Johanna took it, then dove into the black

Just as she heard the first shriek.

She made her way through the cleft

Which opened up into a space that was compatible.

With a climbable cliff to her left

And the other cliffs, impassable.

There was a ledge on the left cliff

That seemed to lead up to the stars

And although the journey was stiff

She made it without any lasting scars.

Her brushed hair was now tangled

As she stood on top of the cliff, successful

She looked upon bloodbath bodies mangled

Those whom had been unsuccessful.

Then, turning away, she loped

Across an expanse of glassy rock

And, fleetingly, she hoped

Sara wasn't dead, on the dock.

For a moment, Johanna felt bad

Because she had dismissed their alliance

And for a time, Sara had

Believed in their compliance.

Johanna didn't love to lie

But she had lied to Sara Sewn

A girl that was her ally

A girl she wished she'd never known.

Shrugging, she spotted a small rift

She hid herself, out of sight

It was uncomfortable, but she could still lift

Her axe up into the night.

Johanna chose this certain spot

So she could spy on the Careers

_And possibly get supplies,_ she thought

While almost smiling through fake tears.

After that, she gave her eyes a break

Sleep, Johanna did allow

Relaxed until she would awake

Because she was safe, for now.


End file.
